Contributions to the AICCM National Conference 2013, Adelaide 23-25 October
Abstract
From October 2012 to the end of January 2013, the National Museum of Australia’s conservation section was on display in the Museum Workshop Exhibition. This exhibition and the period of its development, presented the Conservation section and the Museum as a whole with a number of new challenges as well as providing a wonderful opportunity to showcase work that normally takes place off site away from our Museum colleagues and the public.
At all stages, the project was a collaboration between the many sections of the museum that work together to prepare for exhibitions, strengthening the relationship between the Conservation section and the rest of the Museum. For the two curators, Vicki Humphrey and Anne-Marie Conde, a conservator and a curator respectively, working on the exhibition together exposed new ways of seeing the “conservator-curator” relationship, the different ways we approach our work and the way we view and interpret objects.
There is no doubt that the exhibition was at times difficult for the conservators, but they rose to the occasion. They gave generously of their time and their knowledge to a public hungry for information and delighted to have a sense of connection with the workings of the Museum.
Key Words: collaboration, lessons learnt, participation, conservation, audience engagement